'Pancake collapse' destroys house under renovation

A 19-year-old construction worker is dead after a house under renovation in Toronto’s Bedford Park neighbourhood collapsed on Tuesday.

The collapsed house had stood between the two houses visible here. (Stephanie Matteis/CBC)

Police were called to the home at Brookdale Avenue and Greer Road, about halfway between Avenue Road and Yonge Street, north of Lawrence Avenue West, after 2 p.m. ET. Around 11 trucks and 45 firefighters responded to the scene.

The house was destroyed in what firefighters call a "pancake collapse," in which the whole house fell directly down in one motion.

Three people were trapped inside, but one man freed himself from under the house. Crews had to tunnel to reach the other two, shoring up the rubble as they dug.

A second man was eventually pulled from the ruins and rushed to hospital.

"[He] had a beam pinning his leg, but we managed to get our crews down and … he was able to get out," said Toronto Fire Services Division Commander Bob O'Hallaran.

But crews were unable to rescue the third man, and he was pronounced dead at around 4 p.m.